Assessment methodology

Shadow AI & Shadow IT Risk Assessment: methodology and sources

This page explains how questions are structured, how the score is calculated, how critical gaps affect the result, and how the assessment should be interpreted.

Version 1.0Last reviewed: 2026-08-2310 questions

Purpose and boundaries

This is an awareness and decision-support assessment. It is not an audit, certification, legal opinion, or formal compliance determination. The score is designed to help leadership identify where deeper review, evidence, or remediation is warranted.

Scoring model

  1. Each question is scored from 0–4. The highest score represents a formalized, implemented, tested, and evidenced state.
  2. Questions are assigned to governance domains. Each domain score is the ratio of earned points to available points in that domain.
  3. Domain scores are combined into the overall score using the domain weights shown below.
  4. “Not sure” answers are treated as an uncertainty signal and may apply a modest uncertainty adjustment.
  5. Some foundational questions have critical rules. If a critical foundation is absent, the overall score can be capped so a high average does not hide material risk.

Domain weights

Visibility22%

Knowledge of SaaS, browser, AI, and data movement.

Approved use18%

Practical rules, approved tools, and exceptions.

Data exposure22%

Sensitive/customer data in unapproved tools.

Vendor & identity risk20%

Vendor terms, SSO, access, and lifecycle.

Reporting & remediation18%

No-blame reporting and reduction of unsafe workarounds.

Critical score rules

  • Sensitive data may be entering unapproved SaaS or AI services without adequate control. (maximum score: 55)
  • The organization lacks sufficient visibility to govern Shadow IT and AI risk. (maximum score: 60)

How to use the result

Review the three lowest domains, critical flags, and evidence checklist together. The objective is not to generate a high score; it is to make missing decisions, owners, and evidence visible. When a major customer, audit, regulatory, or incident deadline exists, the self-assessment should be followed by independent validation.

Reference sources